C15 Blazing Red Lotus

Yu Yuan didn't see anything wrong with his actions.

Could the impending clash between the two families really be his fault?

Yin Jue was nothing but a henchman for his future father-in-law, Lin Hanyu. This man had repeatedly tried to take his life. Clearly, the Winter's Bite was behind it, but Lin Hanyu must have had a hand in it as well!

Without Lin Hanyu's backing, and without sensing Lin Hanyu's tacit approval and encouragement, would he have dared to act so recklessly?

Now, with Yin Jue dead, Lin Hanyu himself had arrived in Asvetaesi, strutting around in the Yu family's council hall.

He was pressuring the patriarch to break off the engagement and demanding the Celestial Ice Crystal, even threatening to pursue an investigation into Yin Jue's death.

But Yin Jue had come to kill him in the dead of night!

For what reason?

Why should he and the Yu family have to submit and endure such unfairness?

Against the likes of the Winter's Bite, the Lin family, or bullies like Lin Hanyu, if you don't give them a bloody lesson, they'll only grow bolder and more brazen, trampling all over you!

That's why Yu Yuan had taken decisive action.

"Despicable!"

Lin Zhuyun observed from a distance of about a dozen meters, her eyes turning a frosty white.

Chilling spiritual energy radiated from her, and the ice jade at her waist shone with a brilliant light.

Tiny characters etched within the ice jade sprang to life!

In a flash, the minuscule script burst forth from the jade, expanding rapidly to form daggers gleaming with icy radiance.

Surrounded by a whirl of ice daggers, they wove a web of spiritual energy around her like threads of frost.

Yu Lili, who was about to rush in, was shocked into a sudden halt. "Another Spirit Level artifact! The Lin family really spares no expense! Ah!"

"It's not from the Lin family. This Ice Spider Web is a Spirit Weapon gifted by the Winter's Bite," Lin Zhuyun said calmly. "With your late-period Golden Sanctum cultivation, you won't break through the Ice Spider Web without a Spirit Weapon of equal power. Once deployed, if any Winter's Bite members are nearby, they will sense it and come immediately."

She paused briefly before adding, "I believe there must be an elder from Winter's Bite near Asvetaesi!"

Yu Lili's face turned ashen.

"A Winter's Bite elder?" Yu Yuan's mouth twisted into a sardonic smile, his eyes brimming with scorn. "You knew all along, didn't you? That someone from Winter's Bite was pulling Yin Jue's strings, ordering him to make two attempts on my life. It's clear now that in your eyes, I'm still the one who deserves to die. Unable to do the dirty work yourself, you feign ignorance while letting Yin Jue run amok."

In that instant, realization dawned on him.

He saw the true intentions hidden deep within his betrothed's heart.

"You should've been dead long ago!"

Lin Hanyu's rage was uncontrollable, "Such a failure you are, having already brought my daughter misery for years. Do you intend to ruin her entire life as well?! I don't care how you came back or who stands behind you, you will never be worthy of my daughter! Hand over the antidote for the Lizard Blood Pill, and I assure you, only you will die, sparing the Yu family."

"Boom!"

A brilliant yellow column of light burst forth from his chest, intensifying his aura dramatically.

Simultaneously, he coughed up blood.

He had forcibly tapped into the Profound Gate's vitality, accelerating the spread of the Lizard Blood Pill's blood poison through his organs, and now he was paying the price.

Yet, he was clearly prepared to sacrifice his own life to subdue the instigator swiftly.

"Any who stand in my way shall perish!"

The spiritual energy blade light, emanating from the Yellow Moon, combined with the bright yellow vitality streaming from his chest's Profound Gate, transformed Lin Hanyu into a bloodthirsty deity of slaughter.

"Crack!"

An elder Golden Sanctum counselor from the Yu family, his bones shattered, was reduced to chunks of flesh before he could even scream.

The dazzling yellow spiritual light intertwined with the bright yellow vitality, amplifying the Yellow Moon's power exponentially, like a colossal yellow moon harvesting the lives of all the Yu family members present.

The Yu family elder, along with the counselors, were terrified to their core, their spirits nearly shattered by fear.

Yu Wei and Yu Lian, brothers at the middle and early periods of the Golden Sanctum respectively, watched Lin Hanyu with dread. He seemed ready to sacrifice his own life to annihilate everyone present, and they inwardly lamented their plight.

"Sigh."

Despite their apprehension, the brothers steeled themselves to confront Lin Hanyu, who appeared intent on mutual destruction.

Behind them, Yu Yuan glanced at Lin Hanyu and then at Lin Zhuyun, who had cast the "Cold Spider Web" nearby, rendering Yu Lili powerless. He suddenly called out, "Senior, do you truly intend to just stand by and watch?"

"What? There's someone else here?" Yu Cen, seated in his wheelchair and frantic with worry, scanned his surroundings. His heart sank with despair. "Could the elders of Winter's Bite have been here all along?"

"Hu! Hu! Hu!"

A series of bewitching red lotuses blazed into the hall from outside.

Each red lotus resembled a meticulously carved piece of red crystal, shining brilliantly and emitting a blinding red glow that was almost too intense to gaze upon.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Nine red lotuses collided with the Yellow Moon conjured by Lin Hanyu, causing it to burst into spiritual energy and rapidly disintegrate.

The red lotuses diminished swiftly, soon becoming nine tiny blossoms the size of a fingernail.

Then, everyone's attention was drawn to the nine red lotuses, which now flickered like small flames around an elegant and stunning woman.

"Yuan Lianyao!"

"Mayor!"

"It's Mayor Yuan!"

Lin Hanyu bellowed, Yu Cen shook with shock, and the rest of the Yu family erupted in hopeful cheers.

"How did you detect me?" Yuan Lianyao, ignoring the others, fixed her gaze on Yu Yuan. "I've concealed my aura. With your level of cultivation, you shouldn't have been able to sense me. Even Lin's Second Elder failed to perceive me. How did you do it?"

"It wasn't me who sensed you, but the blood poison from the Lizard Blood Pill," Yu Yuan clarified, then respectfully bowed. "I am honored to meet you, Sister Mayor. Here in Asvetaesi, the Lin family has been committing atrocities within our Yu family's domain. I implore you, Sister Mayor, to deliver justice!"

"Mayor... sister?" Yuan Lianyao's lips twisted into an odd smile, finding the title somewhat peculiar. "It seems to me that you're the real culprit behind the crimes in Asvetaesi. Sure, Second Elder Lin is pushy, but it was you who struck first, unleashing that poison pill. Aren't you the foolish heir of the Yu family?"

After his resurrection, he first eliminated Yin Jue, then convinced his father to annihilate Lyu Yue of Winter's Bite. Now he's plotting to use the Lizard Blood Pill to poison the Lin family father and daughter. What exactly is his endgame?

Yuan Lianyao was skeptical about her father's claims regarding Yu Yuan.

She couldn't fully trust her father, who had gone mad from practicing the Crimson Soul Spell.

She was determined to see Yu Yuan for herself and uncover the truth.

"It's a miscarriage of justice!" Yu Yuan cried out, "Mayor sister, Yin Jue, the Lin family's henchman, has repeatedly tried to assassinate me, intent on my demise. My betrothed is well aware of this yet did nothing to intervene. Had my luck not held, I'd be dead by now. As the mayor of Asvetaesi, I implore you to stand by the Yu family!"

Yu Cen, Yu Wei, and the rest of the Yu family listened to his outbursts with a sense of disbelief.

Did this young man not realize that Yuan Lianyao's rise to mayor of Asvetaesi was due to her favoring the powerful and suppressing the weak?

Expecting her to administer justice and support the vulnerable Yu family? Was Yu Yuan making a joke, or was he deliberately taunting her?

"Your loud protests are just a stalling tactic, aren't they?" Yuan Lianyao huffed.

At that moment, everyone's attention shifted to Lin Hanyu, who had just moments before been full of bluster but now seemed deflated, his aura severely weakened.

Lin Hanyu's complexion turned ashen, his eyes losing their luster – clear signs of deepening poisoning.

"Yuan Lianyao!" Lin Hanyu spat through clenched teeth, like a beast cornered and facing death, "Had you not meddled, I would have subdued Yu Yuan and extracted the antidote for the Lizard Blood Pill! It was you who struck my 'Yellow Moon Wheel,' thwarting my success! Now, the blood poison has penetrated my organs, and it seems I've been bested by the Yu family."

"You'll never escape this!"

"My elder brother, the entire Lin family, and Winter's Bite will strike back hard against what you've done today! You and the Yu family will feel the full force of their wrath!"

His words were saturated with boundless fury.

"Father!"

Lin Zhuyun, also afflicted by the blood poison of the Lizard Blood Pill, let out a mournful cry. Hatred began to fill the depths of her icy gaze.

"Hand over the antidote to the Lizard Blood Pill." Yuan Lianyao, her figure swaying gracefully, slowly approached Yu Yuan.

"Mayor!"

Yu Wei and the others called out urgently.

"Hmm?"

Yuan Lianyao, visibly annoyed, furrowed her brow and gave them a cold glance, commanding, "Step aside!"

"Move!" Yu Cen's voice boomed.

Recognizing the situation, Yu Wei and the rest of the Yu family members quickly cleared a path.

Without breaking stride, Yuan Lianyao positioned herself in front of Yu Yuan, eyeing him with interest. After a penetrating gaze, she extended her pale, delicate left hand and demanded, "Hand over the antidote to the Lizard Blood Pill. If you don't want the entire Yu family to suffer because of you, I suggest you be wise and comply."

Yu Yuan met her gaze unflinchingly and replied with composure, "Sister Mayor, is this a threat?"

Yuan Lianyao was about to affirm when she suddenly recalled Lin Hanyu, who had previously threatened Yu Yuan and was now on the brink of death due to the poison. She also remembered Yu Yuan's previous resolute stance, preferring a devastating confrontation over submission to threats.

"This isn't a threat; it's an appeal—a well-intentioned appeal," Yuan Lianyao swiftly altered her approach, even deliberately adopting an exceedingly gentle tone. "If you truly regard me as your sister, the Mayor, then please heed my advice, okay?"

Her final plea, 'okay', was tinged with a note of entreaty.

All the surviving Yu family members and counselors watched, utterly astonished.

What was happening?

The individual who approached Yu Yuan with such amiability, even resorting to pleading, was the mayor of Asvetaesi. Could it truly be the renowned 'blazing red lotus'?

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